Wimbledon 2015

Smarter insights made with IBM

Raising the bar every year

IBM has been the Official Supplier of Information Technology and Consultancy to Wimbledon since 1990. We are proud that it is our technology and expertise that helps The Championships maintain its position as the best tennis tournament in the world year after year.

Fans around the globe experience Wimbledon via television and digital devices all supported by IBM technology and the innovation that we bring. Each year expectations rise and each year the Wimbledon and IBM partnership delivers a fantastic fan experience.

Rising above the noise

The data and insights that IBM captures at the side of the court are distributed around the grounds and around the globe in a matter of seconds to millions of devices. It is through this real-time access to information that Wimbledon is able to rise above the noise of competing sporting events and media outlets.

All of this is made possible by a combination of IBM’s Cloud, Analytics, Mobile, Social, Security and Systems capabilities. Our objective is to make the fan experience better, whenever and wherever they want to experience it.

If we can do this for Wimbledon in front of the world, imagine what the possibilities are for your business.

Cloud

Through IBM’s Cloud technology, Wimbledon is able to efficiently and effectively evolve from a private members’ tennis club to a world-class global event. Big Data analytics allow us to dynamically, securely and rapidly optimise digital platform hosting, at a lower cost. Using IBM SoftLayer allows yet further incremental capacity to be added rapidly into the hybrid environment as and when needed. Scaling capacity over 100 times in such a short space of time to manage peak workload during The Championships isn’t your typical requirement. If we can do it for Wimbledon, imagine what we can do for your business.

Analytics

Attracting customers in any business is hard but when you have global news organisations vying for the attentions of time poor sports fans you need to really focus on what makes you stand out. For Wimbledon that means having access to real-time data and news content faster than anyone else. For the first time this year the Wimbledon digital team will be notified of breaking news across all 19 courts in real-time allowing them to make proactive decisions about their digital content. Using a natural language query tool, underpinned by Watson, the team will be able to find further insights from their vast data set, structured and unstructured. The speed of access to critical business data and putting the ability to query it in the hands of all is key for any business to stand out.

Mobile and IBM Interactive Experience

Most fans around the world are not lucky enough to experience the tennis live in SW19. Total visitors to The Championships from 1990-2014 inclusive was 10,967,236. In 2014 over 63 million visited the digital platforms, which is why Wimbledon’s digital strategy is focused on delivering the ‘next best thing to being here’. Having one of the best sporting web sites in the world, that tells engaging stories supported by telling insights, is a key component of the overall Wimbledon brand.

Access from mobile devices is ever more important: 58% of all page views came from a mobile device in 2014 and the mobile site saw visits rise 39%. In 2015 the whole of Wimbledon.com has been redesigned to be fully responsive and even more immersive than before. IBM Interactive Experience’s award winning capabilities help design and deliver fan experiences across all digital channels.

Social

Social media is more than just a way of sharing what you are doing at the weekend. Some analysts report that 1 minute in 4 of on-line time is spent on social media. If you want to connect with your customers you have to do that where they are - and ignore them at your peril. Engaging with fans via social channels allows a stronger connection with The Championships, drawing them into Wimbledon’s owned channels. Using real-time social media insights from IBM, the Wimbledon digital team can rapidly respond to tailor their digital content based on what fans are saying now, helping to give them an ever more engaging experience. Happy customers make strong brand advocates.

Security

As Wimbledon’s focus on digital platforms increases so too does the need to be ever more vigilant around security. IBM provides a single, unified view of all security events and uses real-time analytics to rapidly identify and correlate target attacks. Wimbledon isn’t alone in taking its security seriously. IBM manages 20 billion security events every day for 10,000 clients around the world. Think you have security covered?

Systems

Fan engagement is what drives the Wimbledon digital experience. That experience is underpinned by IBM’s hardware systems, software and services. Whether it is the IBM Power Systems in our triple active data centres, IBM WebSphere software providing the secure messaging platform or Tivoli Storage Manager software servicing the predictive analytics that produces the “Keys to the Match” in SlamTracker, IBM’s systems and services are at the heart of the solution.

Through IBM’s Cloud technology, Wimbledon is able to efficiently and effectively evolve from a private members’ tennis club to a world-class global event. Big Data analytics allow us to dynamically, securely and rapidly optimise digital platform hosting, at a lower cost. Using IBM SoftLayer allows yet further incremental capacity to be added rapidly into the hybrid environment as and when needed. Scaling capacity over 100 times in such a short space of time to manage peak workload during The Championships isn’t your typical requirement. If we can do it for Wimbledon, imagine what we can do for your business.

Attracting customers in any business is hard but when you have global news organisations vying for the attentions of time poor sports fans you need to really focus on what makes you stand out. For Wimbledon that means having access to real-time data and news content faster than anyone else. For the first time this year the Wimbledon digital team will be notified of breaking news across all 19 courts in real-time allowing them to make proactive decisions about their digital content. Using a natural language query tool, underpinned by Watson, the team will be able to find further insights from their vast data set, structured and unstructured. The speed of access to critical business data and putting the ability to query it in the hands of all is key for any business to stand out.

Most fans around the world are not lucky enough to experience the tennis live in SW19. Total visitors to The Championships from 1990-2014 inclusive was 10,967,236. In 2014 over 63 million visited the digital platforms, which is why Wimbledon’s digital strategy is focused on delivering the ‘next best thing to being here’. Having one of the best sporting web sites in the world, that tells engaging stories supported by telling insights, is a key component of the overall Wimbledon brand.

Access from mobile devices is ever more important: 58% of all page views came from a mobile device in 2014 and the mobile site saw visits rise 39%. In 2015 the whole of Wimbledon.com has been redesigned to be fully responsive and even more immersive than before. IBM Interactive Experience’s award winning capabilities help design and deliver fan experiences across all digital channels.

Social media is more than just a way of sharing what you are doing at the weekend. Some analysts report that 1 minute in 4 of on-line time is spent on social media. If you want to connect with your customers you have to do that where they are - and ignore them at your peril. Engaging with fans via social channels allows a stronger connection with The Championships, drawing them into Wimbledon’s owned channels. Using real-time social media insights from IBM, the Wimbledon digital team can rapidly respond to tailor their digital content based on what fans are saying now, helping to give them an ever more engaging experience. Happy customers make strong brand advocates.

As Wimbledon’s focus on digital platforms increases so too does the need to be ever more vigilant around security. IBM provides a single, unified view of all security events and uses real-time analytics to rapidly identify and correlate target attacks. Wimbledon isn’t alone in taking its security seriously. IBM manages 20 billion security events every day for 10,000 clients around the world. Think you have security covered?

Fan engagement is what drives the Wimbledon digital experience. That experience is underpinned by IBM’s hardware systems, software and services. Whether it is the IBM Power Systems in our triple active data centres, IBM WebSphere software providing the secure messaging platform or Tivoli Storage Manager software servicing the predictive analytics that produces the “Keys to the Match” in SlamTracker, IBM’s systems and services are at the heart of the solution.